‘Sketches from Gwithian Beach’

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Gwithian Beach

We are down at Gwithian beach, on the north Cornwall coast. This is a beach that I have very fond memories of. We used to come here a lot as a family when I was a boy. Gwithian Towans has large, fantastic sand dunes, we used to spend ages exploring them. There also have various Second World War defences to find and poke about in too. Somewhere under the sands are a Church/oratory and relics of St Gwithian, built-in 490 AD. They were uncovered in the early part of the 19th Century and allowed to be covered over again by the sand. At high tide, there is very little beach, but at low tide, there are miles of sand. From the mouth of the River Hayle to the Red River at Godrevy. The sea here has great waves for surfers.

Looking towards Godrevy Lighthouse

Watercolour ~ A5

Materials Used

For these sketches, I have been using an A5 Daler Rowney, Red & Yellow cartridge pad. 6B pencil and a waterproof fineliner pen. With my Winsor & Newton, watercolour field paint box and a couple of round brushes – sable no.6 & a no.1

Godrevy Lighthouse

Godrevy means ‘little homestead’ in Cornish and refers to the farm on the headland. Godrevy Island lies three hundred yards off Godrevy Point. To the seaward side of the Island is a submerged reef, called The Stones. This has been the site of many shipwrecks over the years. Godrevy Lighthouse, with its white octagonal tower, was built in 1859. It always looked rather homely to me with the old keeper’s cottage and a little whitewashed wall, surrounding a patch of green grass.

Lastly

Riders in the Surf

Pen ~ A5
Arrived at the Towans. It’s nice and sunny with a fresh westerly breeze to start with, but this soon blows in a very black squall that catches us before blowing over.
These three riders had ridden the length of the beach and are now were heading back. It looked great fun, have to try it sometime.